Ighalo lifts Watford again

Troy Deeney’s first-half penalty and Odion Ighalo’s late strike helped Watford see off Norwich 2-0 on Saturday.
Deeney stepped up to finish past Declan Rudd after Alexander Tettey had fouled Ighalo in the area as he attempted to recover the situation.
And Ighalo netted his ninth goal of the season in second-half stoppage time after combining well again with Deeney.
Victory sees Quique Sanchez Flores’ side climb into the top-half of the Premier League table, while Norwich remain three points above the drop zone.
Watford started the better of the two sides, but it was a game of few chances in difficult, windy conditions at Vicarage Road.
Norwich were happy to sit deep and let the home side play and they looked fairly comfortable in defence until Tettey’s error on the half-hour mark.
The midfielder dawdled on the ball in his own half and Etienne Capoue nipped in to steal it off his toe before playing it into Ighalo.
And in trying to rectify his error, Tettey eventually hauled down the Watford forward before his strike partner Deeney stepped up to send Rudd the wrong way.
Norwich goalkeeper Rudd, who was starting in place of the dropped John Ruddy, looked nervous throughout the first-half and was beaten again in the 37th minute when Ighalo got onto the end of Allan Nyom’s header across the box and finished from close range.
It was, however, ruled out after the assistant referee deemed Ighalo to be in an offside position, and Watford boss Quique Sanchez Flores looked aggrieved on the touchline as it appeared to be the wrong decision.
Norwich improved after the break, but it was always Watford who looked more likely to score going forward, particularly with the superb combination of Ighalo and Deeney up top.
Ighalo, in particular, was an absolute menace, particularly to Sebastian Bassong who he terrorised all afternoon, and could easily have had a couple more were it not for a mixture of misfortune and poor control when presented with opportunities.
And it took until the 92nd minute for Ighalo to finally get his goal and seal a deserved win for Watford, combining well again with Deeney before beating Bassong for the umpteenth time and finishing low underneath Rudd.